Kelly Nakai
IDEA Health & Fitness Association
858.535.8979, ext. 212

Joice Truban Curry
c3 Communications
858-794-6974

San Diego – April 26, 2012 – IDEA Health & Fitness Association, the world’s leading organization of fitness and health professionals that creates products, tools and solutions to educate and grow the fitness industry, recently launched an innovative and comprehensive Career Guide for individuals in all stages of their fitness or exercise-related career.

IDEA spent three years researching and developing this new comprehensive career center that provides fitness professionals with a wealth of relevant and useful career planning resources all in one place. The new online platform is free and provides students and fitness professionals with expert advice on fitness and exercise related careers, educational programs, fitness certification guidance and practical career enhancing tools.

The IDEA Career Guide allows users to access the largest directory of fitness certifications and training groups where they can research company profiles, types of fitness certifications available, read client reviews and view a calendar of upcoming trainings and live events. It also includes a database of hundreds of universities, colleges and community colleges that offer degress in health and fitness, kinesiology, exercise physiology and related programs.

Developed by IDEA’s research team, the Career Guide is a one-stop shop for creating career ‘roadmaps’ for fitness professionals of every level from students entering the industry to established fitness professionals looking for new development opportunties. Users can access industry statistics on compensation and benefits by job title/specialty area and by region of the United States and also learn how to establish and build a personal and professional brand in the fitness industry.

“Whether an individual is looking to break into the business or a veteran who is hoping to enhance their skill set - our new Career Guide offers the best resources to enhance any professional’s career,” says IDEA executive director Kathie Davis. “Often fitness professionals lack the mentorship and guidance to advance their careers. That is why IDEA developed a new Career Guide to offer the best insider knowledge and answers to essential questions about the industry. It’s the most logical cache of tools compiled that covers the entire fitness industry.”

About IDEA Health & Fitness Association
IDEA Health & Fitness Association is the world's leading organization of fitness and wellness professionals. We deliver world-class content and continuing education to fitness professionals through three channels: our five publications, including the award-winning IDEA Fitness Journal; our world-class fitness conferences; and hundreds of streaming videos and DVD courses available on our website www.ideafit.com. Additionally, with IDEA FitnessConnect, we have created the largest national industry-wide directory linking over 250,000 fitness professionals to more than 16 million consumers. Through IDEA professionals in over 80 countries, we "Inspire the World to Fitness®."